I have an idea problem.

Not a shortage.

Quite the opposite. 😂

One interesting conversation can send me off researching something I had absolutely no intention of caring about an hour earlier.

A new technology?

I need to know how it works.

An idea for something I could create?

Well, obviously we should investigate that.

A book idea?

Write it down.

A business possibility?

Let’s think about it.

Something isn’t working quite right?

Now you’ve done it. My brain has already started redesigning the system.

This would all be perfectly manageable if having an idea and having time to pursue an idea were the same thing.

They are not.

For a while, every good idea seemed to arrive carrying an invisible assignment:

DO SOMETHING WITH ME.

Apparently my curiosity and my calendar had not been properly introduced.

Because my calendar was already full.

And my curiosity did not care. 🤣

So I started thinking differently about ideas.

A good idea doesn’t necessarily need to become a project.

That sounds ridiculously obvious when I write it down.

It was apparently less obvious inside my head.

Some ideas really do deserve my attention now.

Some are worth saving for later.

Some need more information before I know whether they’re worth pursuing.

Some are interesting but belong to somebody else.

And some are simply fun to think about.

That’s allowed too.

I don’t have to monetize them.

Build them.

Turn them into a goal.

Put them on next week’s list.

Or create a color-coded action plan.

I can just think, Well, that’s interesting.

This realization eventually led to something I now call my Idea Parking Lot.

Eventually I even built myself a little Idea Parking Lot app so I could capture things from my phone before they disappeared. Nothing elaborate. Just one place to put an idea, add a few notes about it and then get back to whatever I was supposed to be doing before my brain wandered off again. 😂

Because telling myself, “Don’t think about that right now,” has approximately zero chance of working.

My brain hears that as, “We should probably think about this immediately.” 😂

But putting the idea somewhere changes things.

I’m not saying no.

I’m saying, Not now. I’ll know where to find you.

And that has become increasingly important because I’m in a season of life with a lot of things that genuinely interest me.

Writing.

AI.

Consulting.

Creating.

Technology.

Business ideas.

Projects for Beautifully Organized.

Things I want to learn.

Things I want to preserve.

And every one of those can produce five more ideas before breakfast if I’m not careful.

The challenge isn’t finding inspiration.

It’s deciding which inspiration gets my attention.

There’s a difference.

I don’t want to become so disciplined that I stop wandering down interesting paths. Some of the best things I’m doing right now began because I got curious about something I wasn’t looking for.

Curiosity has opened doors I didn’t know existed.

I want to keep that.

But I also don’t want every open door to become another obligation.

So I’m learning to leave some of them open without immediately walking through.

That’s harder than it sounds.

There is something wonderfully tempting about a brand-new idea.

It hasn’t become complicated yet.

There are no tedious middle steps.

Nothing has gone wrong.

It hasn’t required 14 passwords, three phone calls, a tutorial and something that absolutely refuses to connect to Wi-Fi. 🤣

It’s still pure possibility.

Meanwhile, the project I’ve already chosen is sitting there saying,

Hello? Remember me?

That’s usually when the Idea Parking Lot comes in handy.

Capture the idea.

Give it somewhere to live.

Then go back to the thing I’ve already decided matters.

If the idea is still calling me later, I can come back.

If it isn’t?

That’s useful information too.

Maybe making room for what inspires us isn’t about finding room for everything that inspires us.

Maybe it’s about protecting our curiosity without letting it run the calendar.

I can explore without committing.

I can save an idea without pursuing it.

I can change my mind.

And I can be fascinated by something without turning it into homework.

That last one may require continued practice. 😉